Knitting for wellness 

Knit your way to a healthy brain.

Think of knitting as exercise for your brain. It's a complex, repetitive, coordinated, bilateral sequence of movements across the midline of the body. And each of these takes immense brain power to execute. An activity that crosses the midline of the body, for example, is really beneficial because it promotes the coordination and communication of the left and right-hand sides of the brain.

Knitting strengthens the connections in our brain and improves memory, concentration, planning skills and mood, reduces stress, provides mental stimulation, and assists with reducing cognitive decline.

Knitting brings meaning and joy to life.

Knitting gives us the opportunity to do something just because we love it.

We spend so much of our lives doing stuff because we have to, of fulfilling responsibilities and obligations. It's extremely fulfilling to do something just because you want to.

Knitting promotes intuition.

The simple act of knitting develops your ability to hear the inner voice that is your consciousness. It raises your intuition. It's a pathway to creativity and new ways of thinking.

Knitting teaches us patience and perseverance.

Knitting, as in life, doesn't always go as planned. Knitting can be challenging and teaches patience and perseverance, which helps us deal with life's challenges. Any knitter knows the feeling of having to pull out rows and rows after making a mistake, which equates to hours of knitting. At times like these, you can either give up or take it as a learning experience, acknowledge you still enjoyed the process, and carry on.

Knitting is meditative.

The more we live in the present, the more we're aware of and appreciate life's precious moments, and the more grateful we become for the small things in life and for what is arguably the most important aspects of life - our health, our family, our home, a comfortable bed and the pleasure of a good meal.

Like meditation, knitting is a mindful exercise, so it teaches us to be truly present, resulting in decreased stress. Rather than focusing on your worries, you can focus on your hands as you knit, the texture of the yarn and count the stitches in your head as you knit.

Knitting is creative.

Creativity can increase our overall sense of wellbeing because it develops our coping abilities by improving problem-solving skills, inventiveness and new ways of looking at things.